Advantages and Disadvantages of Ocean

Freight

Ocean freight is one of the best ways of transporting goods to places around

the world. Oceans cover most of the landmass of our planet because of

which they provide people with a easy mode of transportation. During the

industrial age, ocean freight was the only means of transportation used by

the industrialized countries such as England and France. With the

advancement of technology, planes started being used to transport goods as

they offer people with a faster mode of transporter. Despite the popularity

of planes as a means of transportation, the demand for ocean freight has

not decreased.

Advantages

The various advantages of ocean freight are as follows:

1. Cost-effective - compared to air freight, Ocean Freight Services of not

cost a lot of money. They offer companies with a cost-effective means of

shipping all kinds of products. Companies need to make sure that they do

not spend a lot of money in shipping the goods they manufacture or export,

so that they can reduce their cost of operation. By opting for transportation

through ships, they can save a lot of money and reduce their operational

cost in the process. This helps them to sell their products to the end-users at

very affordable prices, providing them with an edge over their competitors.

2. Ideal for heavy goods - companies that import heavy goods such as

automobiles, industrial parts, machineries etc. will not be able to use the

services of air freight services as airplanes cannot transport such heavy

goods. Even if they do, the cost of transportation will be too high and

outside the budget for many businesses. This is why, business organizations

opt for shipping heavy goods through ocean freight as ships are capable of

carrying all kinds of heavy objects. Besides, they will not have to spend a lot

of money in the process as well.

3. Environment Friendly - airplanes consume a lot of fuel and in the process,

they leave a very large carbon footprint, which is very harmful to the

environment. Carbon emission leads to increase in temperature of our

planet and disrupts its ecological balance. Ships on the other hand, leave a

very small carbon footprint as they do not consume a lot of fuel, in

comparison to airplanes. They are very environment friendly and offer

companies with an opportunity to transport all kinds of goods, without

causing minimum harm to the environment. This helps business

organizations to improve their brand image.

Disadvantages

The biggest disadvantage of Ocean Freight is the time taken to ship the

products. Many a times, business organizations need to provide faster

delivery to their clients and during those times, they need to opt for

transportation through airplanes as it is the faster than ocean freight. These

days, the threat of ships coming under attack by pirates is very high and

when the pirates attach cargo ships, they steal the products being

transported, resulting in a loss to the companies which use ocean freight for

shipping and transportation of goods.